Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 49 Sisters Confrontation
One day, Tan Anfu could no longer tolerate it and rushed into the Zhiyun Fabric Workshop to argue with someone: "Manager Du, what do you mean? I asked you to deliver new fabrics to the Tan family, and you are pretending not to know, right?"

Shopkeeper Du had anticipated this and secretly winked at his waiter, who went to the door stealthily. After a while, a small figure rushed out from outside, running very fast.

Coming up with a forgiving smile, Shopkeeper Du said cordially, "Hey, Madam Fu, calm down. What could possibly be so irritating?"

Tan Anfu ignored her smile and had two maids sweep up all the new fabrics. They then piled them on the counter with great momentum, and scolded her, "Don't play dumb! I've received the Zhiyun paper three days ago. I told you to send a copy of all the new products to the Tan family. What's going on now? The young lady from the He family is already wearing her new clothes, and I haven't even seen a single piece of fabric. Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me?"

"Madam Fu, what are you saying? You're a long-time customer, how could we intentionally neglect you? The Zhiyun paper was all shipped out at the same time. The young lady from the He family sent someone to the store that day to buy several bolts of the new fabrics she liked. Madam Fu, did you send someone to buy them as well? I don't see it in my account. Could it be that I've been so busy lately that I forgot about the fabric you ordered?"

"You're so arrogant that you even want me to send money to order it? Don't we always follow the old rules? Why are you playing dumb with me now?"

"Please don't make things difficult for me, Madam Fu. I'm not pretending to be ignorant. The boss has just set new rules and has warned me several times. As the shopkeeper, how dare I disobey them?"

"Who made these broken rules? I think you've gotten so bold that you've forgotten the name of this shop after moving!"

As Tan Huaike stepped into the cloth shop, he added, "What's the name of this shop? Is it Tan? Even if it's still called Tan, it's the surname of the eldest lady of the Shentu Mansion. What does it have to do with Lady Fu?"

Guessing that Tan Anfu was going to cause trouble these days, Tan Huaike would come to the cloth shop from time to time. When Zhong Ming brought her the message just now, she had just arrived at the Yunhe Xiangjie and they ran into each other head-on, which was very timely.

Zhong Ming finished another errand and was not in a hurry to get paid. He was really curious about his boss, so he huddled in a corner to watch the fun with great interest.

Seeing her come forward, Tan Anfu sneered and said, "It has nothing to do with me? What? My sister married into the Shentu Mansion and became a widow, so she doesn't recognize me as her elder sister anymore?"

"Of course I recognize you, but sisters have to settle accounts. My dowry only includes these two shops, and both are struggling. Sister, please be considerate of me, a widowed bride. I can ask the shopkeeper to send you any new and good things you want to buy. But you still have to pay for it. You can't let me give it away for free, right?"

"After all, you're still reluctant to part with this little money, not even caring about sisterly feelings. It seems like your sister is living in a very tight spot in her husband's family," Tan Anfu sneered. "No wonder. You're called the eldest lady, but all that's left of your husband is a memorial tablet. If she doesn't extort some money from her family, she'll probably have trouble making ends meet."

"Sister, what are you talking about? I run a business and make money from every sale. How can that be considered extortion? Sister, you want to take so much cloth without paying a cent. That's the real extortion. If you don't know, you would think the young lady of the Tan family can't even afford a few pieces of cloth."

"You... who said I can't afford it? It's just a few dollars!"

"Our fabric prices are very fair. I can make the decision and give you a 30% discount..." Tan Huaike clattered on his abacus and showed it to Tan Anfu, "and then round off a little for you. Here, this is the number."

"You're so stingy and mean! I was in a hurry to leave today and didn't bring much money with me. This is just a small amount. At worst, I can buy it on credit. How can our Tan family blame you?"

"I can buy it on credit. All I need is your signature on this piece of silk."

"Sign it and sign it."

She was about to start writing when Tan Huaike reminded her, "This batch of new goods is in short supply. We have to send it to customers who paid in cash first. After we have sent it to those customers, we can send it to customers who pay on credit. Are you willing to wait?"

Upon hearing this, Tan Anfu threw her pen down. "You still want me to wait? Tan Huaike, don't go too far! If it weren't for sisterly love, I wouldn't have bought fabric from your shabby shop!" "So you're buying on credit out of sisterly love? I'm afraid I can't handle this kindness. Why don't you look elsewhere? Qingbo Cloth Shop also has these two kinds of fabric, but the three kinds of Luoxia brocade there are only available to our Zhiyun Cloth Shop. I haven't seen them sold anywhere else in the county. If you want to buy them, it'll take some effort."

"You...Tan Huaike!"

"Sister, do you still want to buy on credit? If you don't want to buy anymore... Shopkeeper Du, have someone put this pile of fabric back and give it to whoever it's meant for."

Seeing that the Luoxia Brocade that she had obtained was gone, Tan Anfu gritted her teeth and said, "Wait!"

In the end, she asked her maid to go back and get some cash, and bought the three new fabrics that were unique to Zhiyun Cloth Workshop. She glared at Tan Huaike fiercely, and left with a gust of fragrant wind.

Tan Huaike sniffed his nose and said, "Is this... Anzhixiang? It's too strong, it makes me dizzy."
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This had broken off relations with Tan Anfu, but Tan Huaike didn't care at all. This man had bought her back out of sheer calculation, and had pushed her into the fire pit without mercy, so what sisterly love could there be?

After resolving this issue, the cloth shop continued to operate as usual, but the sharp-tongued and aggressive wife of the Shentu Mansion became even more popular. Tan Huaike was happy to see this happen. If he wanted to do big business on the border, he must not be treated as a soft persimmon.

After watching the excitement, Zhong Ming was about to go out to take some work. Tan Huaike stopped him and stuffed two coins into his hand: "You're leaving now? You don't even want the errand money?"

Zhong Ming accepted the money and said shyly, "Boss, you are so awesome! I had completely forgotten about this..."

Tan Huaike smiled and patted his head. "I heard from Shopkeeper Du that you have a sister to support? Doing this job all day can't be good, right? Have you ever thought about finding a more stable job?"

"Ah, I, I don't know what else to do..." Zhong Ming hesitated. He was afraid that Tan Huaike would buy him and his sister as slaves, but he was also afraid that their future life would be unsustainable. He was also thinking about the plans and back-up plans of the Mohe nobleman, and he didn't know how to choose.

"Don't rush to make a decision." Tan Huaike said, "I just happen to be free. Can you take me to see your sister?"

Zhong Ming thought about it and nodded.

Tan Huaike didn't expect that he would take him to the street near the Tan family's house.

She asked, "Is your sister here?"

Zhong Ming replied, "Well, during the day, my sister would go with the traveling merchants and sell candied haws or toys."

Following the children's laughter, they soon found Zhong Yun, who was sitting on the stone steps with her legs crossed, eating candied haws and praising them to other children, saying, "The candied haws are sour and sweet and delicious."

Zhong Ming pulled her over and said, "This is the owner of Zhiyun Cloth Shop, the eldest lady of Shentu Mansion."

Zhong Yun's lips were covered with sugar crumbs, and she blinked and asked, "Wow, Madam, are you our good match?"
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　Next chapter: So... you won't let us sign an indenture?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)